Germany ‘will assist’ in defence of Cyprus after drone strike

Germany will assist in “preventative measures” being taken to protect Cyprus after the island was hit by an Iranian-made drone on Monday, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Tuesday evening.

While he did not detail the exact extent to which Germany will offer assistance, he mentioned at the same time “assistance” offered by both Greece and France, both of which have deployed frigates to the island, and the former of which has also deployed four fighter jets.

“Following the communication that [President Nikos Christodoulides] had with the chancellor of Germany [Friedrich Merz] regarding … German assistance in the preventative measures being taken, as Greece and France have done, today, the heads of the armed forces of the two countries had contact at an operational level,” he said.

This contact, he added, was aimed at discussing “Germany’s assistance”, with Cypriot Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius now set to “finalise and clarify the manner of Germany’s assistance, following that of France and Greece”.

In addition to France and Greece, the United Kingdom is also set to deploy HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer warship, and two AW159 Wildcat helicopters to Cyprus and its vicinity, with Monday’s drone having hit the country’s Akrotiri air force base.